Contents

The village was known in the Domesday Book as Hantone, the Blewett part of the name coming from the Bluet family in the fourteenth century.[2] Hantone is believed to mean 'A poor enclosure' from the Old Englishhean and tun.[3]

The name of the village is sometimes spelled as Hinton Blewitt. There is a village green outside the pub and church, sometimes known as the "Barbary".[2]

William Rees-Mogg took the title of Baron Rees-Mogg, of Hinton Blewett, when he was made a life peer in 1988, although in 1998 he and his family moved to nearby Mells. Lord Rees-Mogg's children Jacob and Annunziata spent much of their childhood in the village.

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, unitary council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as being consulted by the unitary council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.

According to the 2001 Census, the Mendip Ward (which includes East and West Harptree), had 1,465 residents, living in 548 households, with an average age of 39.0 years. Of these 79% of residents describing their health as 'good', 22% of 16- to 74-year-olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate of 1.5% of all economically active people aged 16–74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, it was ranked at 25,387 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived.[7]